Hyderabad: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) has announced an ‘Advanced Certification Program in Cyber Security and Cyber Defence’ in partnership with Hyderabad-based education tech firm TalentSprint. The program is designed for current and aspiring professionals looking to explore and exploit the latest trends in cyber security technologies. A combination of academic rigour and practical approach will allow participants to learn in-demand skills and build expertise. The first cohort will start in early 2020.

Most recently, IIT-Kanpur has taken the lead in cyber security by setting up the Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security and Cyber Defence of Critical Infrastructures (C3i). The mission of C3i is research, education, and training, and also to spawn startups to create technological safeguards to protect critical national infrastructure. The Centre collaborates with other global centres of excellence.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Manindra Agrawal, Program Director and Professor of Computer Science at IIT-Kanpur, said, “It is estimated that there will be roughly 200 billion connected devices by 2020. Rapid convergence of Mobility, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing is leading to an explosive increase in security threats and the need for Cyber Defence experts to combat these threats is becoming all the more important. Our program will leverage the deep research capabilities of C3i to arm technology professionals with the right expertise to counter a wide range of emerging threats and vulnerabilities.”

Santanu Paul, co-founder and CEO of TalentSprint, said, “The demand for [cyber security] professionals is outstripping supply. Companies need sophisticated responders to defend against the growing threat of cyber attacks. There is a huge talent crunch and 59% of companies have vacant positions suggesting a cumulative global shortfall of 1.5 million such professionals.”

According to NASSCOM, India’s cyber security market is projected to grow to $35 billion by 2025. This 6-month Advanced Certification Program in Cyber Security and Cyber Defence will be delivered in an executive-friendly format with immersion bootcamps at the IIT-Kanpur campus, complemented by live online interactive sessions.

Program participants will also get direct exposure to C3i and its research expertise during their visits to IIT-Kanpur. In addition, TalentSprint will curate state-of-the-art capstone projects for program participants.